Nintendo will debut its first smartphone game this week

Like this, but on a phone and fewer buttons and...okay, it'll be pretty different from this.
Nintendo
Nintendo's first smartphone game is about to be revealed.

This is a huge shift for the console game maker, and one that the Japanese company has resisted for years.

Nintendo's new president Tatsumi Kimishima said on Wednesday, "We will talk about details tomorrow," according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The announcement is timed to Nintendo's financial quarter, which was reported this week. The only mention of the smartphone game in the earnings report? This one note: "A gaming application for smart devices is scheduled for release."

But the news isn't a surprise, exactly: Nintendo's previously said it would unveil at least one smartphone game by the end of 2015. And given that it's October, we're getting closer and closer to year's end.

So, which major Nintendo franchise will debut as the first smartphone star? Considering these are the same folks who created many of gaming's classic characters, the obvious money is on ubiquitous Italian plumber "Super Mario," but we're hoping for something a little more creative. Maybe a game starring Princess Peach? Or how about the eponymous "Zelda" of "Legend of Zelda" fame?